My claim was denied for "No Diagnosis"

What these denials mean:

"The evidence does not show a current diagnosed disability." (common wording on the denial letter). These denials are saying that there's no evidence that you have a current mental disorder.

There are 2 possible reasons why your claim was denied:

It's important to assess which of these applies to your situation.

Possibility #1:

You have been experiencing significant mental health symptoms but they didn't add up to a specific diagnosis.

Many veterans experience significant mental health challenges that don't currently meet strict diagnostic criteria for a specific mental disorder.

The difference between symptoms and diagnoses can be confusing, especially when they sound similar. For example, "depressed mood" is a symptom – not a diagnosis. You can have depressed mood without meeting the full diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder or another mental disorder.

Not getting a diagnosis doesn't mean that your experiences aren't valid, but it does mean that you can't get service-connected.

Possibility #2:

You weren't examined adequately.

You should have been offered a Mental Disorder C&P Exam.

If your records aren't sufficient to determine the status of a possible service-connected disability, the VA needs to provide an examination to make that determination.

Assuming you had a Mental Disorder C&P Exam, there is a possibility that the examiner didn't adequately assess your symptoms to identify your diagnosis. This happens frequently.

Find Your Best Path Forward:

Try to figure out if you might have a diagnosis that was missed.

Free Online Screening tests can give you a better idea about whether you might have a diagnosable mental disorder.

Even if you don't have a diagnosis, you still deserve proper support, and you still have access to free or affordable treatment through many resources.

If you think you may have a mental disorder, you can find out with an Independent Medical Examination (IME).

You can still get service-connection for a mental disorder, if:

You have a diagnosable mental disorder that is connected to your service.

How?

1. Records Review - I would conduct a Records Review to assess your service treatment records and existing documentation.
2. Independent Medical Examination (IME) - We would go through the IME process to determine if you have a mental disorder.
3. Nexus Letter - (If needed) Depending on your mental disorder and the available documentation from your Service Records, you may also need a Nexus Letter to properly support your claim. This depends on how clear cut the available documentation is in Service Treatment Records (STRs). If it would be easy for the VA to see the connection, a nexus letter wouldn't be necessary. For more complicated cases and/or for PTSD, a nexus letter would be necessary to properly support your claim.